Morning news headlines for October 15, 2012

Oct 15 2012 By Cheryl Mullin

Cameron to sign referendum deal

THE Prime Minister is expected to sign a deal with Scotland’s First Minister today granting Holyrood the power to hold a historic referendum on independence.

David Cameron will meet Alex Salmond in Edinburgh following months of negotiations about the ballot, expected to be held in autumn 2014.

Private meetings between the two Governments have covered contentious issues about the question on the paper, expected to be limited to a single Yes-No option.

Girl shot by Taliban flying to UK

A PAKISTANI schoolgirl who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for speaking out about suffering under the regime is being brought to the UK for treatment, it was reported today.

Malala Yousafzai, 14, is coming to the UK to received “prolonged treatment” after she was shot on a bus in front of her friends last Tuesday, the Pakistani army said.

The teenager’s life was saved by neurosurgeons in a Pakistani military hospital and she has since been in intensive care.

Experts urge illegal drugs rethink

USING illegal drugs is like gambling or eating junk food and there needs to be a wholesale review of the Government’s approach, the independent body that analyses drug laws has said.

There are “some moderately selfish or risky behaviours that free societies accept will occur and seek to limit”, the final report of the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) said.

Its six-year study found much of the £3 billion the UK spends annually on tackling illicit drugs is not based on evidence and, until Government pursues policies based on what works, it will continue to waste public money and damage lives.

BBC boss quizzed Savile on rumours

A SENIOR member of staff at the BBC has revealed he questioned Jimmy Savile over rumours about his private life more than 20 years ago.

As police revealed the DJ and television presenter’s alleged catalogue of child sex abuse could have spanned six decades and included around 60 victims, Derek Chinnery, BBC Radio 1 controller from 1978 to 1985, said he quizzed the presenter directly about the rumours.

The scandal has mushroomed since ITV screened a documentary in which five women alleged they were abused by Savile, with Scotland Yard saying there are allegations spanning 1959 to 2006.

Government ‘to use EU opt-out’

HOME Secretary Theresa May will tell MPs today that the Government intends to opt out of a raft of EU police and justice measures.

In a move that will delight eurosceptic Tory backbenchers but inflame coalition tensions, she is expected to use a Commons statement to confirm plans to exercise a treaty right to withdraw from 130 cross-border agreements including the European arrest warrant.

But Liberal Democrats said agreement on the issue was “not even close”, amid continued dispute over which parts of the package Britain should negotiate to re-enter if it does deploy the all-or-nothing opt-out.